A device for holding ammunition for carrying and loading into a firearm

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for concealing and reloading firearm cartridges. The apparatus may include a plurality of segments, wherein the plurality of segments is connected sequentially to form a segment chain; and an ending segment having a segment portion connected to the segment chain, and a tab portion opposing the segment portion, wherein each of the plurality of segments and the ending segment comprises an insert portion and a cartridge holding portion, the insert portion allows for placement of firearm cartridge, and the cartridge holding portion secures firearm cartridge in the insert portion, and wherein, under an open position, the segment chain and the ending segment form an elongated strip.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a) to U.S.Provisional Application No. 63/202,315, filed on Oct. 7, 2021, thecontent of which is incorporated herein in its entirety for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND Field

The present disclosure is generally directed to an apparatus for holdingand loading ammunition into a revolver type firearm.

Related Art

For many years, the standard duty handgun for a police-officer was arevolver. For a uniformed officer, the issued handgun was typically asix-shot revolver with a 6-inch barrel that fired 0.38-Specialcartridges. On the other hand, for a plain-clothes officer, the typicalhandgun was a five-shot revolver with a 2-inch barrel (commonlyreferred-to as a “snub-nose” or “snubby”) that also fired the0.38-Special cartridges. To enable an officer to quickly reload his orher revolver, several devices were invented during the 1960's and1970's.

In the related art, speed-loaders, mechanical-devices which retaincartridges in a circular fashion that matches the layout of a revolver'schambers, have been used since the 1960's as a way for revolver reload.FIG. 1(A) illustrates examples of conventional speed-loaders. Thespeed-loaders are typically made of metal. The cartridges are held bythe speed-loaders through the cartridges' rims. In use, the spent(fired) cartridges are removed from the revolver's cylinder, with therevolver oriented with its barrel pointed up, and then, with therevolver oriented with its barrel pointed down, the projectile portionsof the new cartridges are inserted into the cylinder's chambers. Thecartridges are released when either a button on the speed-loader ispushed or a knob on the speed-loader is turned, and causing thecartridges to drop into their respective chamber. FIG. 1(B) illustratesa perspective view of a conventional speed-loader.

In the related art, speed-strips, mechanical-devices with molded pocketsthat allow for cartridge retention in geometric patterns, have been usedsince the 1970's as an alternative way for reloading revolvers. Thegeometric patterns include a straight-line, a staggered-line, and acircular pattern. The speed-strips are typically made of polymer.Similar to the speed-loaders, the cartridges are held by thespeed-strips through the cartridges' rims. In use, the spent (fired)cartridges are removed from the revolver's cylinder, with the revolveroriented with its barrel pointed up, and then the projectile portions ofthe new cartridges are inserted into the cylinder's chambers. The newcartridges are loaded in different fashions depending on the geometricpatterns of the speed-strips, e.g. two at a time, three at a time, orall five at a time. FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional circularspeed-strip under both loaded and unloaded states. FIGS. 3-4 illustratea conventional zigzagged speed-strip under both loaded and unloadedstates. FIGS. 5-6 illustrate a conventional straight-line/linearspeed-strip under both loaded and unloaded states. The cartridges arethen released when the speed-strip is peeled/stripped off thecartridges' rims. Use of a speed-strip requires a bit ofmanual-dexterity as disturbance of loaded cartridges may occur fromstripping the speed-strip. In addition, revolver loading using aspeed-strip may require more than one sequential action that results inincreased loading time during times of need. FIG. 7 illustrates loadingof a revolver using a conventional straight-line/linear speed-strip. Asillustrated in FIG. 7 , with a maximum of two cartridges per loadingsequence, the loading process takes at least three sequential actions tocomplete.

In today's world, the snub-nosed, 5-shot revolver remains a popularchoice with individuals who conceal carry for self-defense. However,with only five-shots available when loaded, it is important that usersalso carry a reload to prevent running out of cartridges in their timeof need. For individuals who conceal carry, the issue is concealability.A revolver by itself is difficult enough to conceal, not to mentionconcealment of reloads. As noted above, a speed-loader allows forinstant reload of cartridges in a single sequence; however, concealing aspeed-loader is at least as difficult as the revolver itself. On theother hand, speed-strips offer easy concealment but at the cost ofconvenience in cartridge reloading. Accordingly, there is an unmet needfor a concealable means to carry a reload for a revolver that not onlyallows for fast instant reload, but easy to conceal at the same time.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the present disclosure involve an innovative apparatus forconcealing and reloading firearm cartridges. The apparatus may include aplurality of segments, wherein the plurality of segments is connectedsequentially to form a segment chain; and an ending segment having asegment portion connected to the segment chain, and a tab portionopposing the segment portion, wherein each of the plurality of segmentsand the ending segment comprises an insert portion and a cartridgeholding portion, the insert portion allows for placement of firearmcartridge, and the cartridge holding portion secures firearm cartridgein the insert portion, and wherein, under an open position, the segmentchain and the ending segment form an elongated strip.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A general architecture that implements the various features of thedisclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings. Thedrawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrateexample implementations of the disclosure and not to limit the scope ofthe disclosure. Throughout the drawings, reference numbers are reused toindicate correspondence between referenced elements.

FIG. 1(A) illustrates examples of conventional speed-loaders. Thespeed-loaders are typically made of metal.

FIG. 1(B) illustrates a perspective view of a conventional speed-loader.

FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional circular speed-strip under both loadedand unloaded states.

FIG. 3 illustrates a conventional zigzagged speed-strip under loadedstate.

FIG. 4 illustrate the conventional zigzagged speed-strip of FIG. 3 underunloaded state.

FIG. 5 illustrate a conventional straight-line/linear speed-strip underloaded state.

FIG. 6 illustrate the conventional straight-line/linear speed-strip ofFIG. 5 under unloaded state.

FIG. 7 illustrates loading of a revolver using a conventionalstraight-line/linear speed-strip.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of an example cartridge reloadingstrip in storage configuration, in accordance with an exampleimplementation.

FIG. 9 illustrates the cartridge reloading strip of FIG. 8 withcartridges loaded, in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 10 illustrates the cartridge reloading strip of FIG. 8 in loadingconfiguration, in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 11 illustrates a top view of the example cartridge reloading stripof FIG. 8 , in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 12 illustrates a top view of the example cartridge reloading stripof FIG. 8 with labeled dimensions, in accordance with an exampleimplementation.

FIG. 13 illustrates side view and front view of an example segment withlabeled dimensions, in accordance with an example implementation.

FIG. 14 illustrates side view of an example cartridge reloading strip ofFIG. 8 with labeled dimensions, in accordance with an exampleimplementation.

FIG. 15 illustrates a perspective view of an example strip carrier forcarrying the cartridge reloading strip 800, in accordance with anexample implementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description provides details of the figures andexample implementations of the present application. Reference numeralsand descriptions of redundant elements between figures are omitted forclarity. Terms used throughout the description are provided as examplesand are not intended to be limiting. For example, the use of the term“automatic” may involve fully automatic or semi-automaticimplementations involving user or administrator control over certainaspects of the implementation, depending on the desired implementationof one of the ordinary skills in the art practicing implementations ofthe present application. Example implementations as described herein canbe utilized either singularly or in combination and the functionality ofthe example implementations can be implemented through any meansaccording to the desired implementations.

Example implementations disclose a segmented cartridge reloading stripmolded from a flexible polymer. Each segment of the segmented cartridgereloading strip orients and retains a single cartridge within thesegment. Example implementations provide for optimized ease ofconcealability while simultaneously providing speedy reload of arevolver.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of an example cartridge reloadingstrip 800 in storage configuration, in accordance with an exampleimplementation. As illustrated in FIG. 8 , under the storageconfiguration, the four individual segments 802 are connected in achained fashion, with the last of the four segments connected to an endof an ending segment 804 to form the elongated strip. Each of the fourindividual segments 802 comprises an insert portion 806 for orientingand retaining a cartridge, and a cartridge holding portion 808 forholding the cartridge in the insert portion 806. The ending segment 804has a first end that resembles the four segments 802. Similar to thefour segments 802, the first end is capable of holding a cartridge inthe insert portion 806 through a cartridge holding portion 808. Theending segment 804 further comprises a tab portion 810 that allows auser to grip and holder the strip. The tab portion 810 of the endingsegment 804 includes an extended rectangular bar with protrusions on thefront and back sides of the bar. The protrusions allow for easy grippingand prevent finger from slipping off the strip. In some exampleimplementations, the protrusions are made of a material different fromthe segments 802 and the ending segment 804.

The cartridge reloading strip 800 is molded from a flexible polymer. Thesegments 802 and 804 are connected to each other by a hinged portion 812that connects two adjacent segments together to provide increasedflexibility and bending of the strip. In some example implementations,the cartridge reloading strip 800 is made of at least two differentpolymers. In some example implementations, the cartridge reloading strip800 comprises at least five segments. The segment chaining increaseallows for cartridge reloading of revolver type firearms having cylinderchamber capacity greater than five.

FIG. 9 illustrates the cartridge reloading strip 800 of FIG. 8 withcartridges loaded, in accordance with an example implementation. Asillustrated in FIG. 9 , cartridges are loaded into the insert portions806 of the segments 802 and 804 and held securely by the cartridgeholding portions 808. Cartridges can be snapped or slid into the insertportions 806 of the segments 802 and 804.

FIG. 10 illustrates the cartridge reloading strip 800 of FIG. 8 inloading configuration, in accordance with an example implementation. Toaffect a reload of a revolver, the user rolls the loaded cartridgereloading strip into a circular loading configuration as illustrated inFIG. 10 . The user then orients the revolver with its barrel pointeddown and partially inserts the projectile ends of the cartridges intothe chambers of the revolver's cylinder. This is then followed by theuser pulling the tab portion 810 of the end segment away from theresolver to remove the strip from the cartridges, thereby allowing thecartridges to drop into the respective chambers in the cylinder througha single action.

FIG. 11 illustrates a top view of the example cartridge reloading strip800 of FIG. 8 , in accordance with an example implementation. Asillustrated in FIG. 11 , the cartridge reloading strip 800 issubstantially uniform in width. In some example implementations, thecartridge reloading strip 800 is uniform in width. FIG. 12 illustrates atop view of the example cartridge reloading strip 800 with labeleddimensions, in accordance with an example implementation. As illustratedin FIG. 12 , the cartridge reloading strip 800 in the exampleimplementation has a length of 5.546 inches and a width of 0.5 inch.

FIG. 13 illustrates side view and front view of an example segment 802with labeled dimensions, in accordance with an example implementation.As illustrated in FIG. 13 , segment 802 is angled at 72 degrees betweena front wall and a back wall in the side view. With increased segmentchaining, the segment angle decreases with increased chaining (e.g., 60degrees for six cartridges, etc.) When unloaded, the segment 802 has aheight of approximately 0.42 inch. The height of the segment 802 doesnot alter from ammunition/cartridge loading. As illustrated, even underthe loaded condition, the height of the segment 802 is slightly thickerthan the diameter of the cartridge's rim, at 10% or below. Viewing fromthe front view, the insert portion 806 includes a right wall 1302, aleft wall 1304, and a bottom portion 1306. In some exampleimplementations, a hollow space is created between the right wall 1302,the left wall 1304, and the bottom portion 1306. This reduces the amountof material needed to manufacture the segments 802 and reduces theoverall weight of the cartridge reloading strip 800.

FIG. 14 illustrates side view of an example cartridge reloading strip800 of FIG. 8 with labeled dimensions, in accordance with an exampleimplementation. As illustrated in FIG. 14 , the length between a segment802's center to an adjacent segment 802's center is 0.759 inch. The tabportion 810 has a length of 1.75 inches and a height of 0.062 inch. Eachof the protrusions has a height of 0.03 inch and a width of 0.069 inch.

FIG. 15 illustrates a perspective view of an example strip carrier 1500for carrying the cartridge reloading strip 800, in accordance with anexample implementation. The strip carrier 1500 can store at least onecartridge reloading strip 800. In some example implementations, when thestrip carrier 1500 is used to carry at least two cartridge reloadingstrips, a divider can be provided to separate the cartridge reloadingstrips 800 to allow for easy access and convenient retrieval of thecartridge reloading strips 800. In some example implementations, thestrip carrier 1500 has a fastener such as a belt loop or a clip to allowfastening of the strip carrier 1500 to objects.

The foregoing example implementation may have various benefits andadvantages. For example, the cartridge reloading strip providesoptimized ease of concealability while allowing for speedy reload of arevolver. In addition, the cartridge reloading strip is light weight andflexible, which allows for ease of storage without having to worry aboutdamaging the cartridge reloading strip.

Although a few example implementations have been shown and described,these example implementations are provided to convey the subject matterdescribed herein to people who are familiar with this field. It shouldbe understood that the subject matter described herein may beimplemented in various forms without being limited to the describedexample implementations. The subject matter described herein can bepracticed without those specifically defined or described matters orwith other or different elements or matters not described. It will beappreciated by those familiar with this field that changes may be madein these example implementations without departing from the subjectmatter described herein as defined in the appended claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for concealing and reloading firearmcartridges, comprising: a plurality of segments, wherein the pluralityof segments is connected sequentially to form a segment chain; and anending segment having a segment portion connected to the segment chain,and a tab portion opposing the segment portion, wherein each of theplurality of segments and the ending segment comprises an insert portionand a cartridge holding portion, the insert portion allows for placementof firearm cartridge, and the cartridge holding portion secures firearmcartridge in the insert portion, and wherein, under an open position,the segment chain and the ending segment form an elongated strip.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of hingedportions, wherein each hinged portion of the plurality of hingedportions is used to connect two adjacent segments of the plurality ofsegments or connect the segment chain and the ending segment.
 3. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a plurality of protrusionslocated on a first side and a second side of the tab portion.
 4. Theapparatus of claim 3, wherein the plurality of protrusions is made of amaterial different from the segment chain and the ending segment.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments comprises atleast four segments.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pluralityof segments and the ending segment are formed from a polymer.
 7. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of segments and the endingsegment are formed from at least two different polymers.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein, under a loading position, the segmentchain and the ending segment are rolled into a circular configurationthat allows for loading of firearm cartridges into a revolver.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is uniform in width.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the insert portion comprises a left wall,a right wall, and a bottom portion.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10,wherein an area between the left wall, the right wall, and the bottomportion is hollow.
 12. A carrier for carrying at least one of theapparatus of claim 1.